NEWS

Details emerge from triple fatal shooting near Woodburn

Whitney M. Woodworth
Statesman Journal
Bonifacio Oseguera-Gonzalez was arraigned Tuesday in Marion County Court

A Woodburn man accused of shooting four people on a farm outside Woodburn, killing three and critically injuring one, appeared for arraignment in Marion County court Tuesday afternoon.

Bonifacio Oseguera-Gonzalez, 29, was captured on Interstate 84 east of Portland on Monday afternoon, just over two hours after he allegedly shot four people living on a blueberry farm in the 13000 block of Killiam Loop NE east of Woodburn. 

According to a probable cause statement, Oseguera-Gonzalez admitted to investigators that he shot all four victims.

The bodies of Ruben Rigoberto-Reyes, 60, and Edmundo Amaro-Bajonero, 26, were discovered at the residence. The gunfire seriously wounded Katie Gildersleeve, 30, and Refugio Modesto-DeLaCruz, 27. Both were taken by ambulance to Portland-area hospitals. Gildersleeve later died from her injuries at Legacy Emanuel Medical Center.

Modesto-DeLaCruz was taken to Oregon Health and Science University. He remains in critical condition but is expected to survive, said Lt. Chris Baldridge, a Marion County Sheriff's Office spokesman. The three male victims lived on the property. Gildersleeve was the girlfriend of another resident, who was not home at the time of the incident.

Scene of a fatal shooting in Woodburn.

Initials reports indicated the shooting took place on a farm with a legal marijuana grow. Baldridge clarified that the marijuana plants were actually on a separate, private property. The growing operation is legal and not connected with the shootings, he added.

The family of Rigoberto-Reyes attended Oseguera-Gonzalez's arraignment on Tuesday before Marion County Circuit Court Judge Audrey Broyles. Two translators spoke in Spanish to both the defendant and the victim's family.

Anthony Reyes, Rigoberto-Reyes' 22-year-old son, emphasized that the attack on his father had nothing to do with marijuana.

"It wasn't about drugs," he said through a translator.

He and his friend left the home about an hour before the shots rang out at the usually peaceful, rural residence. Reyes said he did not know the motive behind the killings.

According to court records, Oseguera-Gonzalez lived in the 13000 block of Killiam Loop NE in 2007. The sheriff's office said he was not a current resident but was known to frequent the home.

After finding the dead and wounded at the farm, deputies, with assistance from Oregon State Police, Clackamas County Sheriff's Office and Woodburn Police, combed the surrounding farmland, rivers, stables and winding gravel roads for Oseguera-Gonzalez. Officials searched on foot, in vehicles, with K-9 units and in an airplane provided by the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office.

The sheriff's office sent a description of the suspect and his vehicle to local law enforcement. Shortly after 1:30 p.m. on Monday, OSP troopers, Hood River County deputies and Hood River police officers stopped Oseguera-Gonzalez's vehicle near The Dalles and took him into custody without incident.

He was arrested on three counts of aggravated murder and one count of attempted murder with a firearm.

The Marion County District Attorney Office requested that given Oseguera-Gonzalez's confession to investigators and the enormity of the alleged crime, he be held without bail.

Broyles denied bail and scheduled Oseguera-Gonzales' next court appearance for July 12 at 8:30 a.m. at the Marion County Circuit Court Annex.

Email wmwoodwort@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-399-6884 or follow on Twitter @wmwoodworth

A shooting outside a rural home outside Woodburn left three dead and one injured Monday morning.